This is a story about an amazing, compassionate team that comes together to help those in need. For starters, they helped M, a single mother of five young kids, who was living in a black mold infested apartment when she had to evacuate immediately due to it hospitalizing two of her precious children. At that point, the single mother was out of options and went to her last resort, Craigslist. Of course, it turned out horribly because the landlord robbed M of $1,000 which she paid as a deposit on an apartment. With no family willing to accept six people into their house and not enough space in the shelters, M had no other choice but to sleep in her car with her kids. This only lasted a couple of nights until M couldn't take it anymore and showed up to her shift one night with her children and broke down to the charge nurse. M explained her situation and the team did not hesitate to let the five children sleep in the team room for the night while M worked. Word obviously got around to the rest of the team both day and night shift and they all worked together to make sure M and her five wonderful kids had a Christmas and more. The team members collected money for the single mother to stay in a hotel with her children for a couple of nights until she found a home to rent. After finding a home to rent one of the team members paid for the security deposit on her new place. The team did not stop there, they continued to show their support by emptying out their pantries and raising an abundance of money to provide for M and her five children. A physician's wife even went above and beyond by buying the kids new clothes from the mall, so they were able to have some new items for Christmas. The outstanding team was able to build trust and respect among each other by coming together in a time of need and put a family of six above themselves by getting them through their most difficult time.
Incredibly enough the outstanding team members had many other moments in which they assisted those struggling. J is the mother of two children also received help from the team members. She had moved from Puerto Rico a couple years ago with no other family members to help her out and she tried her best to keep up with her bills, but eventually, she could not do it anymore and the electrical company threatened to turn off her power. Upset and defeated, J came to work and asked what could she do so her kids did not have to live in that kind of environment. Without even blinking the team members collected enough money to pay off her bills and get J back on her feet.
Of course, the help does not end there. R, who tends to the units, one day mentioned that he was devastated that he could not provide Christmas for his two kids and wife. Many of the fantastic team members bought gifts for the family so they were not without during the holiday. The case manager even connected the housekeeper to an auto shop so he was able to get his car fixed due to it being damaged months before. R is forever grateful for the help from the team members and knows he would not have had a great of a Christmas without them.
Another team member, K, was out of work very regularly because of the heart attack he suffered during his shift one day. It was months before Christmas and the medical bills continued to stack upon each other and he began to find it unbearable. The cost of the bills to get him healthy again was a hefty amount and so to come to his aid the team members assembled money to help him pay off some of his bills. Kwas so thankful that he paid it forward by contributing to the opening team member above and her five children. It was a small amount, but he knew that even just a tiny amount of help can go a long way